Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited! It makes my day whenever I get a notification. Shout out to my awesome beta Lifeart for being so awesome! Thank you all for being so patient with me also. I don't know about y'all, but I'm desperately hoping for an awesome episode tonight. Anyway here is chapter nine. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
He was freezing and starting to shiver. He was pretty hot natured, so the reason had to be fever, or blood loss, hell probably both actually. He tried to hide the involuntary movements as best as he could because his partner was already visibly concerned about him.
His job was to protect Mac and sometimes he had to protect him from himself. The kid, when left to his own devices, had a bad habit of replaying everything that happened and finding fault in himself. He had that look on his face now.
"You cold?" Mac asked. He suddenly looked at Jack intently.
"Not too bad," Jack lied. Mac saw right through it.
"Did that piñata zap any ideas into that big swollen head of yours?" Jack asked in an attempt to deflect the attention off himself.
"It's a picana, Jack and no, sorry." Mac replied, hanging his head. Mac felt guilty for not being able to get them out of their predicament.
"You've got nothing to be sorry about, kid. None of this is your fault. Hey, I'm serious man, stop beatin' yourself up." Jack demanded.
"I don't think we are going to make it out of this one, Jack," Mac said with his head still downcast.
Jack hated the look of defeat on his friend's face. "Mac…" Jack paused, not really knowing what to say, when the large metal door swung open with a clang and Sinclair strode in and closely followed by Alex and Levi.
"How delightfully adorable!" The arms dealer declared. He gestured towards Jack's left arm, where Mac's fingers were still resting. Mac jerked his fingers back to grip on the wooden arm rest of his chair, cursing his fuzzy brain for showing weakness.
"My my my... Mr. Dalton, you are not looking well." Sinclair stated with an evil grin.
"At least I have an excuse." Jack shot back.
Sinclair backhanded Jack with a closed fist, opening the split on his lip again.
Even through the pounding of his head, Jack smirked back at their captor. "Seriously, have you checked out a mirror recently? That nose of yours ain't looking too good buddy." Jack watched as a switch flipped in Sinclair's eyes.
Sinclair throttled Jack in the face again before he stomped over to the table and retrieved the knife. "I think I've had just about enough of you, Mr. Dalton. Afterall I only need one of you alive. Oh, I've really been looking forward to this!" Sinclair stood to the side and behind Jack, he grabbed the agent's hair and yanked it back, exposing the vulnerable, tender skin under his jaw.
Mac struggled to catch up with the sudden escalation. "What… No!…Jack!" Mac had a front row seat to the worst nightmare he could conjure. This can't be happening! All the emotions overwhelmed and threatened to bury him. He was going to watch his best friend be murdered right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He saw the knife pressing into the soft flesh under Jack's jaw so hard that blood started to trickle down his neck and gather in the hollow there. Mac's blue eyes welled up and shone in horror. "Please don't do this, please…" The young agent begged.